Our previous studies clearly indicate that lesional skin of psoriasis has a defective beta-adrenergic receptor system. The major objective in next five years is to test a hypothesis that psoriasis develops due to a type of derangement in the beta-adrenergic receptor system in an individual with a hereditary factor. To dissect the receptor system, we must have specific tools; i.e., we will attempt with a hybridoma technique to develop specific anitbodies to the receptor system as well as to its constituents. The antibodies then can be used for radiommunoassays and also isolation of the receptor system by immunoprecipitation and/or affinity chromatography. To define a "hereditary" factor clearly, we will compare various biochemcial factors, including those related to the beta-adrenergic receptor system, in lymphocytes and skin from latent psoriatic patients as compared with those from non-psoriatic subjects.